W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Position Increased by Dundas Partners LLP

Dundas Partners LLP lifted its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,181,601 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,291 shares during the period. W.R. Berkley accounts for approximately 6.4% of Dundas Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Dundas Partners LLP owned about 0.31% of W.R. Berkley worth $90,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,961,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,715,583,000 after acquiring an additional 625,685 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at approximately $682,816,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,189,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $599,271,000 after acquiring an additional 289,172 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8.6% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,274,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $534,438,000 after purchasing an additional 577,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,241,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $401,607,000 after buying an additional 242,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 112,176 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $72.20 per share, with a total value of $8,099,107.20. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 58,780,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,243,948,490. This trade represents a 0.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 9,933,862 shares of company stock valued at $688,134,108. 23.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $69.93 on Monday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $60.68 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $69.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.22.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 12.10%.The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $64.00 price target (down from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.